Chapter 229

229 – Breakfast

I open my eyes to the sun’s glare and crawl out of the shrine . It’s already morning . I went to sleep at the back of the shrine where light wouldn’t reach, but it seems I rolled towards the entrance .

“GuoooOOOO…”

Raising my head to the sky, I let out a yawn . It wakes my partner up, who opens her eyes .

As usual, the egg sacs are stuck to her forehead . To be honest, I’d prefer it if they were to remain unhatched . Hey partner, you know spiders are nothing like ball rabbits? They won’t fulfil your nostalgia .

“Guua…”

Even though she should’ve gotten plenty of sleep, she’s still drowsy .

“Gaah! Gaah! Gaah!”

Without hesitation, she stretches out towards the tribute . She ate a ton last night, but it’s still not enough for her . There should have been enough food to cover a fair few meals if rationed, but she destroyed half of it last night . The remaining half will disappear with this breakfast . She does her work properly, so I can’t complain, but I wish she would pull her weight a bit more .

I would be grateful if the Lithovars were to bring some more tributes, but I don’t see them around, and don’t feel their presence . I wonder if it’s because my behaviour yesterday scared them and they figured out I’m not their dragon-god . There’s the possibility that they have a set day on which they come, so there’s still a chance! I hope…

While I’m thinking, my partner has stuffed her face into a basket, scrounging around for remaining food . The poultry and pork have become nothing but bones . Is she finished eating, then? The food she eats fills my stomach, so to humour her, it’s better to let her do the eating, but… My mouth feels rather empty .

“Hyufuuh!”

Next to my partner snorting in satisfaction, I gnaw on a boar bone she spat out . This is fine though… Yeah… 

After enjoying it halfheartedly, I spit out the bone fragments . My partner looks at me pityingly .

“If you’d said something, I’d have given you some…”

Ah, her voice is in my head . I feel like we’re becoming more and more able to understand each other .

Next to the wreckage of my partner’s feasting, I spot a large pot . It doesn’t look like she’s tried it yet .

I try sniffing it, but it doesn’t smell of food . If it smelled of meat, there’s no way she would’ve left it alone after all . I lightly poke it with my forefoot and hear a sloshing sound .

Is it a drink? I try removing the lid with my mouth to see a colorless, clear liquid . But, this odour I’m smelling… Is it alcohol? It’s sake, actually .

If I remember correctly, Yamata no Orochi was killed after getting drunk on sake . It was a snake, but it feels ominous all the same .

As I’m looking down into the pot, my partner softly edges closer before clasping the pot between her lips and raising it to the sky . Its contents flows down her throat in one gulp .

She twists her head, smashing the pot against the ground, shattering it . Then she sticks out her tongue, licking up the sake from around her mouth .

“Gaaah!”

She cries out joyfully, letting saliva fly .

Oi, this girl! Right after she said she’d share as well!

Or rather, don’t go destroying the pot . What a waste! Be more careful next time . If a Lithovar were to see, they might mistake it as anger .

That’s right, restoring the jar using [Soul AppendmentFake Life] would… not work, I’d expect . Yeah, that would be the case . It’s much more likely that the fragments will just start moaning .

“Gaaaah”

My partner gleefully starts licking the fragments of the jar . She seems to have taken a liking to sake .

You’re also me, so don’t do such crude things, please . Didn’t some of the shards enter her mouth just there? Hey, spit them out already . Won’t they break your stomach?

Come to think of it, I swallowed that holy sword a while back . There’s no way this is worse than that, so it’s fine . Whatever happened to that sword anyway? Is it still there, or has I digested it? It’ll be sticky and unusable either way though .

Seeing as the tribute’s all gone, from today onward I’ll have to be self-sufficient . I need to go hunting for prey . I’ll let the wight earn experience points by providing covering fire… For that matter, where is the wight?

It’s no longer in the shrine . Searching around with [Presence Detection], I feel a faint reaction from the opposite side of the shrine . This presence has to be the wight .

I circle around the shrine, following the wight’s presence . As I’d sensed, the wight was there . It’s elbow deep in earth, digging through the soil . It pulls out a clump of dirt… No, that’s too structured to be just dirt . It’s a dirt-covered cloth .

The wight brushes the cloth with its hand, revealing a black color with ivy embroidery . It’s Lithovar clothing . I wonder if it’s what the wight wore when it was alive .

After clearing away most of the dirt, it rings out with its lower jawbone in satisfaction . It bends down to put on the clothes, but suddenly jumps with a start, turning to look at me . Our eyes meet . The wight looks away and hides its face in embarrassment .

Feeling like I’d seen something I shouldn’t have, I quickly avert my eyes . It’s essentially been naked all this time . After so long without clothes, isn’t it a bit late to worry about being seen changing? No, its feelings aren’t ones I can understand .

After the sound of getting dressed has stopped, I look up to see the wight fully clothed . It’s dirty and torn, but the top and bottom combine to make it a black dress . It looks just like what the Lithovar girl I saved from the manticore was wearing . The men who came to deliver the tribute were wearing trousers, so it seems the wight is a girl after all . Although there is the possibility that she’s just wearing clothes she found .

Letting out a rattling sound, the wight turns around on the spot while looking up at me . I get the impression that it wants me to say something . Seeing me stay silent, she tilts her head .

Perhaps she’s asking for my impression of her clothes . N-no, to put it bluntly she’s just bone, so… There’s no feelings of cuteness there, yeah . Ah, there’s that . It might be a good idea to wash away the dirt in the river . Beyond that… No comment…